Humidifier or air-moistening apparatus.



UNITED STATES- Patented December-20, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

HUMIDIFI ER OR AIR-MOISTENING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 778,172, dated December20, 1904.

7 Application filed June 25, 1904:. Serial No. 214,147.

To a whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STUART W. CRAMER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Charlotte, in the county of Mecklenburg and State of NorthCarolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inHumidifiers or Air-Moistening Apparatus; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My invention relates to means for moistening the air in a room orfactory, and has for its object to provide an apparatus which shall keepthe air constantlysupplied with any preferred amount of moisture anddiffuse such moisture throughout the room and at the same timeincidentally therewith cool or warm the air, as may be desired.

The invention consists in certain improvements in construction, whichwill be fully disclosed in the following specification and claims. o

In the accompanying'drawings, which form part of this specification, theinventionis meral 1 indicates the casing of the humidifier, which isvertically movable, so that it can be raised above the impulse or motorwheel and fan, is provided with a coveror top 2, on which is a hook 3,by which the casing can be suspended on aneyebolt 1 in the ceiling 5 orattached to other support, and on the lower side of the cover is aconical deflector 6 for directing the atomized spray outward over theupper edge 7 of the casing, and an annularvertical flange 6 forarresting and returning liquid to tank 27. The cover is supported onvertical stays 8, which are secured to the casing and the cover, andnear the lower endof the casing are vertical slots '9 to allow thecasing to extend down below the spray head or nozzle 10 and restthereon.

Surrounding the casing is a flaring flange 11, inclined inward to arrestany water which may fall outside the casing and conduct it toward thecasing, and said flange is provided with openings 12, of which there maybe any 7 preferred number, for the escape, if any, of the water whichflows down the outside of the casing and is collected in the receptaclebelow the casing.

The spray-heads 10 may be of any desired number and comprise a body 13,provided 'with a fluid-supply pipe 14, a collar 15, and

a nut 16, by which the spray-head is secured to a metallic frame orstirrup 17 and on the accumulate in the head and for regulating thedischarge of air and water from the head.

Within the body 13 is a nozzle 20, which extends near thedischarge-orifice of-the combining-nozzle and is provided with aneedlevalve-21 for regulating the quantity of water discharged throughsaid nozzle. The nozzle is screwed into the rear end of the body 13 andis provided with a water-supply pipe 22 and a cap or cover 23, formingthe rod of the needle-valve.

Elastic fluid under pressure, such as air or steam, is supplied to thespray-heads 10 through a main pipe 24, provided with a stopcock 25 andbranches26, leading from the main pipe to each spray-head 10, whichbranches are provided with stop-cocks 26 for regulating the supply ofair or steam to the spray-head.

The water may be supplied from any suitable source, such asawater-service pipe or a tank or reservoir in the usual manner, or asupplemental tank 27 maybe provided for each humidifier and the severalsupplemental tanks connected to a main tank (not shown) by a pipe 28,provided with a valve 29, and

control the supply of water to the several supplemental tanks bya'float' in the usual manner of distributing a supply of water from amain to supplemental tanks and maintain a predetermined level in thesupplemental tanks. The supplemental tank 27 can be provided with asight-gage for indicating the level of the water in the tank, and in thetanka diaphragm 31, preferably of wire-gauze, placed to preastuffing-box for Ioo water-supply pipes 22 are foraminous strainers 32to arrest any solids and prevent their being conducted into thespray-heads 10.

The upper end of the tank 27 is provided with a flange or pan 33, whichextends out considerably beyond the casing 1 to collect any water whichmay be thrown off by the motor-wheel while the spray-heads are beingadjusted to take up only enough water to form an aqueous vapor orfinely-attenuated spray, and at the bottom of the tank is a cock 34 fordraii ing off the water from the tank when desire Within the casing,with its lower end resting on a ball-bearing step 35 on the lowertransverse bar 36 of the stirrup 17 is a vertical shaft 37, whose upperend is secured in a seat 38 on the upper transverse bar 39 of saidstirrup, which bar is detachably secured by bolts 40 and thumb-nuts 41,and on said shaft is an exposed motor-wheel 42, provided with tangentialblades 43, curved to discharge the water and the air or elastic aqueousvapor from the heads 10 upward toward the center of the casing 1 andabove wheel 42. Secured to the shaft 37 is a propeller 44 for beatingthe atomized particles of water as they issue from the blades of thewheel to further break up or disintegrate them into finer particles andthoroughly mix them with the current of air passing through the casingand to accelerate the upward passage of the air freighted with moisture.45 is another propeller on the shaft 37, which exhausts the moistenedair from the casing and forces it out over the upper end of the body ofthe casing.

The structure is shown suspended on rods 46 from the ceiling, and to thelower end of said rods the tank 27 is secured by bolts 47 which extendthrough the bar 36 of the stirrup 17; but it is obvious that it may besupported in many other ways without departing from the spirit of myinvention. It is also obvious that the relative position of theimpulse-wheel and the propeller-blades may be changed, therebypractically inverting the construction of the apparatus withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

To start the humidifier or humidifiers, the valve 29 is opened and waterturned into the tank 27. The casing 1 is then raised and suspended onthe hook 3 and eyebolt 4, thus leaving the entire mechanism within theeasing exposed. The needle-valves 21 are then closed, shutting ofl thewater from each spray-' head 10. The cocks 25 and 26 are opened to admitair to the heads. The valves 21 are then opened sufficiently to producespray of the required density, the water being raised on the principleof the action of an ejector. When this has been secured and the shaft37, with the motor-wheel 42, and the propellers 44 and 45 revolving atthe proper speed, the casing 1 is returned to its normal position. Airis drawn into the lower end of the casing 1 from the surroundingatmosphere and in its upward passage is thoroughly conuningled with theatomic particles of water or elastic aqueous vapor and becomes freightedtherewith and is expelled from the upper end of the casing to bediffused in the atmosphere of the room.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is* 1. In ahumidifier, a casing, a shaft, an exposed motor-whcel and a propellersupported on said shaft, a plurality of spray-heads provided with meansfor supplying an elastic fluid under pressure, a liquid-supply pipe, andconcentric and detachable nozzles, one of which is adjustable, forproducing an elastic aqueous vapor and directing said vapor against theinotor-wheel.

2. In a humidifier, a casing, a shaft, an exposed motor-wheel and apropeller supported on said shaft, a supplemental water-tank,spray-heads extending through said casing and provided with means forsupplying an elastic fluid under pressure, a liquid-supply pipecommunicating with said tank, and concentric and detachable nozzles forproducing an elastic aqueous vapor and directing said vapor against themotor-wheel.

3. In a humidifier, a casing provided with a flaring flange near itsupper end and having discharge-openings adjacent to the casing, a tankbelow the casing provided with a flaring flange at its upper end, ashaft provided with a motor-wheel and a propeller, spray-heads providedwith means for supplying an elastic fluid under pressure, and awater-supply pipe; and a stirrup or frame within the casing andsupporting said shaft and said spray-heads.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

STUART \V. CRAMER.

Vt'itnesses:

J. H. MAYES, C. L. MOLEAN.

